Avengers #31
Never Bug a Giant
Goliath has gone missing in South America while seeking a cure for his condition.[1] Learning this, the Wasp has asked her fellow Avengers — Captain America and Hawkeye — to join her on a mission to find him. Although the Wasp is suspicious about Hawkeye due to his involvement with the Black Widow, he agrees to join them on this mission.[2] The Avengers soon take off in their ship.[3] Along the way, they wish Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch could join them. However, the twins have taken a leave of absence from the group to return to their homeland in order to restore their waning powers.[4] There, Wanda worries how long they will have to stay in their homeland before their powers are restored. The pair have realized how much being Avengers have meant to them, and Pietro assures her that they will return to their comrades.
Meanwhile, in secret underground tunnels beneath South America, Goliath is being led away from the Keeper of the Flame and his zealots by their former ruler, Prince Rey. Prince Rey warns Goliath that with the powerful flame under the Keeper’s control he has the power to potentially end the world. When some of the Keeper’s followers find them, Goliath smashes a stone bridge in order to prevent them from catching up. When they start loving destructo-bombs at them, Goliath uses a stalactite as a make-shift baseball bat to knock the explosives back to them. However, this causes part of the tunnel to collapse cutting Goliath off from his colleague Doctor Franz Anton. However, Prince Rey assures him that there are other ways to get to the captured scientist.
They soon join the other members of Prince Rey’s rebellion where Goliath starts demanding answers. Prince Rey explains that his people are descendants of the ancient Incans and they fled to this underground domain to escape the Spanish conquistadores that plagued the region centuries ago. It was here that they discovered the cobalt flame they all worship. The flame was maintained by a Keeper of the Flame and his descendants over the centuries. However, the current Keeper has gone mad with power and had instructed his people to keep feeding the flame more and more cobalt to increase its power. Realizing that the Keeper could no longer be trusted, Prince Rey formed his rebellion to overthrow the Keeper and claim the cobalt flame for themselves.[5] Listening to Rey’s story, Goliath realizes that Prince Rey only wants to keep the flame for himself and that he is just as much a danger to the world as the Keeper is. When he decides to shut down the flame once and for all, Prince Rey orders his men to contain the giant. Meanwhile, the Keeper of the Flame is furious that his followers were unable to capture Prince Rey and Goliath. The Keeper then tries questioning their prisoner, Doctor Franz Anton, but he can provide no information.
Above ground, the other Avengers arrive at Anton’s home to search for clues leading to the whereabouts of Goliath. There they are greeted by the local authorities who are more than happy to have the Avengers on the case. Unable to find anything at Anton’s home, the Avengers then start searching the area in their ship. They notice a strange artificial cloud obscuring a nearby mountain range and go to investigate. There they discover a hidden tunnel leading into the underground domain.
While down below, Goliath has escaped Prince Rey’s men and manages to fight his way to where the cobalt flame is being kept. However, the sacred fire is not unguarded and as Goliath tries to approach it the Keeper activates power-draining rays to sap his strength. That’s when Captain America and Hawkeye arrive and begin fighting with the Keeper’s followers. While the guards are distracted, the Wasp makes her way into the control room. Meanwhile, Captain America and Hawkeye are captured and the Keeper decides that all three Avengers are to be sacrificed to the flame. However, before this can happen, Prince Rey and his followers attack. At that same moment, the Wasp finds the switch to free her comrades. As the battle rages, the Keeper tries to keep the Avengers away from the cobalt flame with destructo-beams. With the flame reaching critical mass Captain America makes a split-second decision that saves all their lives. Theorizing that a nearby idol contains the means to smother the flame, he orders Hawkeye to fire one of his explosive arrows at the effigy.
Sure enough, when the idol is blown up, the blast also smothers the flame.[6] With the fire put out, the two warring factions have nothing to fight over and the battle quickly ends. The Avengers rescue Doctor Anton and while flying back to his home, Goliath asks for help restoring himself to his normal height. Unfortunately, Anton has no knowledge on how to restore Goliath to normal and recommends he seek out Hank Pym for help, unaware that Goliath and Pym are the same men.
Recurring Characters
Avengers (Captain America, Goliath, Wasp, Hawkeye, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch), Prince Rey, Keeper of the Flame, Franz Anton
Continuity Notes
Goliath has been trapped at a height of 10-feet since Avengers #28. He went to South America seeking Franz Anton for a possible cure. He will not find a cure until issue #35.
Hawkeye has been involved with the Black Widow since Tales of Suspense #57. He lost track of her when she was captured by her Russian handlers prior to his joining the Avengers in Avengers #16. He was reunited with her last issue.
Janet mentions how she and Hank were founding Avengers. The pair helped form the team in Avengers #1. They and the other founders went on a leave of absence in issue #16. The couple has just recently returned to the Avengers ranks in issue #28.
Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch noticed their powers were getting weaker last issue. Their homeland is not named here. It is later identified as Transia in Thor #133. The reason their powers are fading here is that the Scarlet Witch is sought after by the demon known as Chthon who seeks to possess her body. Something we will not learn until Avengers #185-187.
The origin of the cobalt flame itself is unspecified here. It’s later revealed in Namor the Sub-Mariner Annual #1 that the flame was created by the Deviants. It was originally intended to be a weapon against the Celestials. It was left behind then the Deviants were forced out of this domain. Also, the Keeper of the Flame is not identified by name in this story. He is identified as Lann in Incredible Hulk #240.
This is not the end of the cobalt flame. The Keeper, Prince Rey, and Tyrannus later unite as They Who Wield Power and begin working on restoring the flame. See Marvel Team-Up #15, 19-20, 26, 28, Nova #5, X-Men #119, and Incredible Hulk #205-209, 238-243.
